The present invention relates generally to a method of assembling an automotive airbag and more particularly to a method of assembling an automotive airbag such that it packs flat.
Automotive vehicles use airbag systems to protect a vehicle occupant during collisions. The airbag is a bag that rapidly inflates during a collision to provide cushioning for the vehicle occupant. A housing from which the airbag deploys may be located throughout a vehicle passenger compartment, including being incorporated into a webbing of a seatbelt restraint.
The seatbelt webbing in automotive vehicles typically slides over a D-ring when extended and retracted. However, incorporating the airbag into the webbing increases the thickness of the webbing and the tendency of the webbing to bubble up or pucker. The increased thickness and tendency to bubble up or pucker makes the airbag incorporating webbing both less aesthetically pleasing to the vehicle occupant and more difficult to pass over the D-ring and thus more difficult to for the vehicle occupant to don and doff the seatbelt. The difficulty in passing over the D-ring may necessitate designing the seatbelt system so the airbag component does not pass over the D-ring, which then may require the addition of a second retractor for the lap portion of the seatbelt assembly. This makes packing the system with a vehicle more difficult and costly. Additionally, in applications where a D-Ring is not required, such as a sedan, a thin flexible airbag pack is still desired to allow for the webbing with integrated airbag to be stowed on a conventional sized retractor.